


a wish and a stream

by fangirl_squee



Category: Friends at the Table (Podcast)
Genre: M/M, Pre-Series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-25
Updated: 2018-04-25
Packaged: 2019-04-27 13:56:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,636
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14426832
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fangirl_squee/pseuds/fangirl_squee
Summary: Stream Star Gig Kephart Interviewed Up And Coming Memorious Artist Grand Magnificent, What Happened Next Will Surprise You.(It certainly surprised Grand)





	a wish and a stream

**Author's Note:**

> shout out to Kay, for kick-starting this idea (sorry it took me like 100 years to actually write it!)
> 
> and thanks to riley, for betaing and for being a bedrock of support always

 

Swansea Bons, Director of Community Project Spaces for the Arts, let out a long exhale, leaning back in their chair. “Your work is  _ fine _ , Grand--”

 

Grand spluttered. “My work is  _ more _ than just  _ fine _ \--”

 

Swansea continued as though Grand hadn't interrupted them. “-- but it's just not very accessible to people, often literally given where on the ship you've been choosing to host your viewings.”

 

“People should have more dedication to art,” said Grand, “I choose the spaces that suit my work.” 

 

“On that we can agree,” said Swansea, “but the fact remains that if your exhibits do not get the numbers through to continue giving you the solo space. It's unfair to the other students.”

 

“You can't expect my work to  _ share space  _ with other people's!” said Grand, “It needs to breathe! I won’t have it be suffocated by forcing it next to inadequate neighbours!”

 

“Be that as it may,” said Swansea, “the fact remains that the board feels you have adequate time to gather sufficient interest, and you have not, and now they’d like to give someone else a chance, and we are only allowed a certain number of display spaces. I'm afraid this will be your last solo exhibit, at least for the time being.”

 

Grand's mind raced. “What if… what if I get higher numbers on this exhibit?”

 

Swansea sighed. “Grand…”

 

“But if I do?”

 

“I suppose if it was a significant increase, maybe the case could be made, and I’ll see what I can do on my end,” said Swansea, “But it wouldn't be enough to just have the numbers from Memorious though, you'd need people from the other ships to view it to make a case for your exhibition continuing.”

 

“Oh,” said Grand, sniffing disdainfully, “mesh views.”

 

“Yes, that,” said Swansea. They paused. “Listen, Grand… you are very talented--”

 

“Yes, I am,” said Grand.

 

“And I'm sure,” they continued, “that you'll get another solo showing soon.”

 

“I will,” said Grand, “right after this one.” He stood up quickly. “I’m sure I’ll see you there.”

 

He left before they could say another word, keeping his pace quick until he was around the corner from Swansea’s office. He took the longer, slower route back to his apartment, trying to think. Mesh views. The absolute  _ nerve _ to think that he, Grand Magnificent, would need to resort to something like that. There  _ had _ to be another way.

 

Half an hour later he was scrolling through the mesh’s video feeds. If he was going to do this, he might as well get someone with a reasonably high view count.

 

The first person he clicked on talked too slowly, the next person had  _ way _ too many videos about slime, the next person was wearing a different rubber mask in all their videos. Grand wrinkled his nose. Maybe he’d just share the studio space, it couldn’t possibly be worse that having his work publicised like  _ that _ .

 

One more person. He’d check one more and then he’d throw this idea out with the rest. Grand closed his eyes, and clicked randomly on one of the side videos.

 

_Hey guys_ , said a cheerful voice, _Gig Kephart here!_ _today we’re going to talk to Talia Rosethorn who looks after our most poisonous plants here at the Gumption’s Gambit Community Hub Gardens. We’ll be talking about her forty-five -_ wow _\- years of service, how she stays safe on the job, and what to do it you ever find yourself in a room with one of the botanical universe’s most dangerous members._

 

Grand hit pause, opening a cautious eye. Gig Kephart’s grinning face looked back at him. He was standing against a backdrop of green foliage, the sunlamps casting a soft glow around him. He was… He looked… He was much presentable than the other hosts Grand had looked at today. Grand took a deep breath and looked down at the viewer count in the corner. He blinked, and looked at the number again. Whoa. That was certainly… suitable.

 

He clicked through to Gig’s profile page, looking for the contact details. There was a contact form on one of the pages. As soon as he clicked through, a small video of Gig popped up.

 

_ Hey, hi! _ Said Gig, smiling brightly at the camera,  _ I know what you’re thinking ‘Gig probably gets so many of these messages, is it even worth sending it in?’ _

 

“I wasn’t thinking that,” said Grand, glaring at the screen for a moment, before he remembered he was talking to a video.

 

_ I just want you to know that it is, I read every single one of the messages and I’ll respond to you even if I don’t get the chance to do a full stream on it. You guys listen to me, and I want to listen to you too. And also I love you. Bye! _

 

The video vanished, leaving Grand staring at his reflection overlaid faintly on the empty comment form. He shook himself, pausing to collect his thoughts before typing.

 

_ Mr Kephart, _

 

_ My name is Grand Magnificent and I am an artist on Memorious. I currently have a solo exhibition, and it is my belief that your viewers would find it not only entertaining but also enlightening. I have attached some images of the artworks, although of course they’re  _ much _ better when seen in person. _

 

_ I would be happy to discuss my work with you on a stream for any length of time. _

 

_ Regards, _

_ Grand Magnificent, Visionary _

 

There. Perfect. His plan was in motion. Now all he had to do was wait for a reply.

 

Grand sat for a few moment, increasingly fidgety, before he stood up.

 

Right. He’d go for a walk. Once he got back, surly there would be a reply.

 

There wasn’t.

 

Nor was there one before he went to sleep. Or after he woke up the next day.

 

And then, part-way through putting in his lunch order, a small  _ ping _ sounded. Grand stumbled through the rest of his order, taking a deep breath before he opened the message.

 

It was, of course, in video form. Thankfully he has his email set to private, viewable to his eyes only, or the message would have blasted out to the entire cafe.

 

_ Hi Grand! Or do you prefer Magnificent?  _ said Gig,  _ I guess I’ll find out! I checked out your work and it looks  _ very _ cool, really twisty! I’ve never had an artist on the stream before, I bet people will love it. So, yeah! I’ll send you another message when I get transport sorted, I know a guy coming your way soon to do some maintenance. Talk to you soon! Bye! _

 

Grand played the message back again. And again. Very cool. Really twisty. Despite himself, he felt a smile creep over his face.

 

“Uh, Grand Maliciphet?” intoned the board cashier.

 

“It’s Grand  _ Magnificent _ ,” huffed Grand.

 

Honestly. He was about to become a fleet-wide name. Let’s see them get his name wrong after  _ that _ .

 

Gig did send a few more messages before the day he was due to arrive. They always seemed as though Gig had  _ meant _ for them to be short, starting out on track before meandering more than a little off-topic. He did that in his streams too, not that Grand had watched them, really. Just a few, to be prepared for when he met Gig in person. A perfectly reasonable, ordinary amount, that he’d lost count of somewhere around the thirtieth video.

 

Annoyingly, he couldn’t seem to catch Gig on a call. Either the line was busy, or he got an answering machine message (which alternated between Gig apologising for being out on a stream or Gig apologising in a slightly less sincere tone about being asleep). It was a slight annoyance though, definitely not something major to worry about. Grand wasn’t worried about any of this and why should he be, his work was groundbreaking and awe-inspiring, why  _ wouldn’t _ Gig be delighted to interview him about it.

 

Sure, Grand was pacing at the dock as he waited for Gig’s ship to arrive, but that was just as an exercise for himself, get the blood pumping before his interviewer arrived. It absolutely and one hundred percent was not a sign of being nervous. He didn’t get nervous, ever, and  _ certainly _ not about meeting a stream star.

 

Gig’s transport finally pulled into the dock. Grand checked the numbers against the ones Gig had given him twice, but despite its battered exterior, it was definitely the ship. This was confirmed by the one and only Gig Kephart opening the door.

 

Wow.

 

He was so much more… The light caught him in such a way that he looked… He was smiling at Grand as though he.... Grand swallowed. He looked taller than Grand had expected, ducking his head under the low doorway of the ship as he emerged, heavily patched bag in hand.

 

“Grand Magnificent?!” Gig called out, “Is that you?!”

 

Grand cleared his throat, and tried to remember the big opening speech he’d planned to give Gig upon his arrival as he walked closer.

 

What came out instead was, “Oh, yeah, hi, uh, that’s me.”

 

Gig’s smile got even wider. “I thought so!”

 

He wrapped his arms around Grand in a quick, tight hug before stepping back, still smiling down at Grand. The warmth of his hands lingered on Grand’s skin even after he’d stepped back.

 

“I mean, I  _ did _ kind of look you up after you sent through your first message. And, you know, you’re kind of the only person here not working on a thing.”

 

“I… yeah, I suppose I-- wait, you looked me up?”

 

Gig blinked. “Oh, was that not… I wanted to see your other work, so I kinda--”

 

“You wanted to see my other work?”

 

Grand felt his cheeks heat up, which was ridiculous, of course Gig had wanted to see more of his work, who wouldn’t? His work was great and he was great, and his portfolio was easily accessible via the mesh.

 

“Well yeah,” said Gig, “Of course I did, the stuff you sent through directly was so cool-looking, I wanted to see what else was out there, you know? And then when I did I was like, wow, of  _ course _ I have to go to Memorious to see this guy in person.”

 

“And here you are,” said Grand.

 

“And here I am!” said Gig cheerfully.

 

“Hey, Kephart,” said someone poking their head out from the ship’s doorway behind them, “you good?”

 

“Yeah, thanks Mick!” said Gig brightly. “This is the guy, waiting right here for me and everything, so don’t let me keep you.”

 

Mick laughed, a loud shout of a sound. “Alright, take care of yourself. I’ll be around for a few days before I head back to Gumption’s Gambit, so let me know if you want to catch a ride back.”

 

“I will,” said Gig. “Don’t worry so much!”

 

Mick laughed again. “That’s my job!”

 

Gig laughed, sounding even more joyful in person than he was on his streams, and gave Mick a short wave before he turned back to Grand.

 

“Alright Grand Magnificent, lead the way!”

 

Grand blinked. “Uh, you don’t want to, like, put your stuff anywhere first?”

 

“Nah, I can sort that later if I need to.”

 

“My rooms aren’t far from here,” said Grand, apparently not able to keep the offer from coming out of his mouth, “you can put your stuff there if you want, saves you, y’know, lugging it all over Memorious.”

 

“Oh!” said Gig, “then, sure! As long as it’s not putting you out.”

 

“No, it’s totally on our way,” said Grand.

 

Gig wasn’t from Memorious, Grand reasoned, so he wouldn’t possibly be able to tell that his apartment wasn’t  _ technically  _ on their way. Although honestly, the area around where Grand lived had some of the best architecture on the ship, so really he was just giving Gig some background colour, showing him the backdrop upon which such amazing art had been created.

 

If Gig did noticed he didn’t mention it, asking Grand question after question about the colours and styles (which Grand, of course, answered in minute detail) and the mechanics behind it all (which Grand… had to fudge a little bit. Mech questions he could answer, but he could only guess at the inner workings of Memorious). 

 

There was a moment, right before Grand opened his door, where Grand had the urge to tell Gig to wait outside just in case something in his rooms wasn’t presentable enough. He tamped down on it, throwing open the door and stepping aside for Gig to enter first.

 

“Wow,” said Gig, “ _ great _ place!”

 

Grand felt himself flush and tried to ignore it. “Uh, thanks. I designed all this myself. Obviously.”

 

“Yeah, no, I can totally tell,” said Gig, looking closely at Grand’s coffee maker before he straightened again. “Where d’you want me to put my bag?”

 

Grand waved his hand, keeping his tone casual. “Wherever’s fine.”

 

Gig set his bag down gently on Grand’s spotless blue couch then turned back to Grand. “Cool. So how do you want to do this?”

 

Grand blinked at him. “Uh, what?”

 

“The stream,” said Gig, “How d’you want to do it? Like, we could do a short interview here and then I could cut in parts of the art tour, or we could do interview then art tour, or we could do art tour then interview, or we could do the interview as part of the art tour… I mean, it’s totally up to you, however you feel most comfortable.”

 

“I guess, uh, interview as part of the art tour?”

 

Gig beamed. ”Perfect! Lead the way!”

 

On the walk there, Gig continued his barrage of question, although these were less about Memorious and more about Grand himself. Grand was, of course, more than happy to tell Gig at length about the book he’d found in Memorious’s library that had sparked his latest exhibit.

 

“Not,” added Grand, “that it was that heavy of an influence really, more of a very small spark that I have built endlessly upon to create these new works.”

 

The only times Gig would interrupt him was when Grand would vear into talking about Memorious, pointing out the curve of a street sign or the shading used in a mural.

 

“That’s cool,” said Gig, nodding, “but you’ve already given me so much background -- I want to hear about  _ you _ . And I’m sure my viewers do too.”

 

Gig laid a hand on Grand’s arm, and Grand was  _ sure _ it coincided with the temperature of the corridor they were walking down increasing. Grand felt like that had been happening to him all day. That must have been what Gig’s friend Mick was here to fix.

 

Grand cleared his throat. “Right. Right! Of course they do! Anyway, where was I?”

 

The exhibition space was a series of long, thin rooms, twisting into each other like a maze. It had previously been a storage area, but as soon as Grand had seen it, he’d known that  _ this _ was The Space for his exhibition (although it had taken a while to convince other people, far longer than it should have -- didn’t anyone on Memorious have  _ Vision _ ?). The walls tilted, making you feel a little off balance as you walked through the space. 

 

Normally, Grand appreciated it, how it forced people to have a change of reaction and feel unsteady. Normally, he wasn’t walking into an exhibition with Gig Kephart beside him. He already felt unsteady enough.

 

Gig pulled out his eye and a small pad of actual, physical paper as soon as they entered. The eye Grand had sort of been expecting, he’d seen Gig’s streams, the paper on the other hand…

 

“Oh!” said Gig, when he noticed Grand staring, “Someone from the Ever-Forward sent it to me.”

 

“Aren’t you like, recording everything?” said Grand, gesturing to Gig’s eye.

 

“Well sure,” said Gig, “but these notes are about my  _ feelings _ . It’s useful, when I’m going back to edit stuff later, you know? So I know how I want the video to feel.”

 

“Everyone’s artistic approach is different,” said Grand, and began by telling Gig about the work closest to them, a large ornate hammer which stopped mere inches away from hitting a delicate metal flower.

 

As they went around the room, the pages available in Gig’s pad got smaller and smaller until eventually Grand turned to him to see he’d begun writing on his arm.

 

“Do, uh... I have a datapad you can use,” said Grand.

 

“No, it’s okay,” said Gig, “they’re just feelings-notes.”

 

Grand glanced down at Gig’s arm. The writing was upside-down, but Grand was pretty good at reading upside-down writing, the white ink of it stark against Gig’s dark skin.

 

_ beautiful colours makes me think of birds from that one stream of that guy with all the parakeets love it _

_ grand is so cute wow _

 

Grand felt his face go red. “Uh. Thanks?”

 

Gig grinned down at Grand. The only thing that really made Grand feel better about not being able to stop his blush was the way Gig bit his lip slightly, as though he was trying to tamp down on his smile.

 

“Actually, you want to take a break for a bit?” said Gig, “That way I can mark out the timestamp and stuff of when I switched from paper to datapad notes.”

 

“Sure,” said Grand, “There’s a good spot over here we can sit, if you want.”

 

They had walked a lot today after all, all over Memorious really. Perfectly reasonable to want to sit down after that, and his work shouldn’t be rushed, after all.

 

The small bench was tucked into the gallery alcove, the seat of it curved to fit into the space. Grand slid into Gig a little as they both sat down. This gallery was far too warm, he would absolutely have to speak to someone about this. If  _ he  _ couldn’t concentrate of his works at this temperature there was no way a less artistic person would have the focus.

 

He looked up, almost about to remark upon it to Gig, then stopped himself. Gig might not feel it, after all, who knew what the temperature was like on Gumption’s Gambit. Gig looked up at him from where he was noting something down on his arm. He bit his lip again, in that way that pulled at something in Grand’s chest. He put his hand on Gig’s arm, just above the scrawled writing. They were close enough that Grand heard Gig’s small inhale of breath as Grand touched him.

 

Grand wasn’t sure who leant towards who first, but suddenly Gig’s lips were on his, and his hand were clutching tightly at Gig’s hair. Gig gasped into his mouth, clumsily setting the datapad down before pulling Grand against him. Grand turned towards him as much as possible, making a frustrated sound at the cramped space. 

 

Gig huffed a laugh, the lightness of it sending a jolt of heat through Grand. Grand shifted, pushing at Gig’s shoulders until he had room to swing his leg over Gig’s lap, straddling him. Gig made a pleased sound, and all Grand could think of was how to keep Gig making that sound over and over again, forever.

 

He kissed down Gig’s neck, smiling as Gig tilted his head to give Grand better access, dotting Gig’s skin with bruising kisses. They were in his exhibition, after all. Gig was certainly beautiful enough to be part of his art.

 

He didn’t even notice the door swinging open and other people entering the room until someone gasped loudly behind them.

 

Grand broke off, looking over his shoulder at the grouping -- it was only a small handful of people, most of whom he vaguely recognised from Swansea’s office.

 

Gig leant around Grand, waving at the assembled group before his hand settled back on Grand’s hip. “Hi!”

 

“Is that  _ Gig Kephart _ ?” said someone from the back of the group.

 

“Yeah, it’s me, hi, hello,” said Gig, unfazed by the interruption, “I’m here to see Grand’s exhibit -- I’m doing an video on it. Maybe a couple episodes actually, there’s lots to see.”

 

“How long are you here for?”

 

“Have you seen much of Memorious?”

 

“You're here to see  _ Grand's  _ exhibit?”

 

“Hey!” said Grand.

 

Of  _ course  _ Gig was here to see his work. Gig might not be an amazing artist like Grand was, but  _ clearly  _ he was able to recognise talent when he saw it. 

 

Grand shifted awkwardly on Gig's lap as Gig answered their questions, smile bright and expression clear, apparently unaffected by his current position. Gig’s hand felt hot through the fabric on Grand’s hip, as he gestured with the other. Grand tried not to focus on it too much.

 

“If you're here for a while I should give you my card,” said one, Grand didn't care to pay attention to who, “I have an exhibition downtown at the moment. The gallery is, uh, a little more spacious.”

 

Grand’s chest felt suddenly tight. He stood up sharply, pulling Gig up behind him. 

 

“Gig won't have time for that,” said Grand, “In fact, we have an interview to conduct right now, away from here.” He tugged on Gig's hand.

 

“Sorry,” said Gig, following behind him easily, waving goodbye to the others, “sorry! Maybe next time?”

 

Grand scowled at the door as he walked them both quickly towards it. If they wanted to be interviewed on Gig's stream they could contact him themselves instead of piggybacking off his idea. And also, they couldn't do that either, because he'd gotten there first. 

 

“I had no idea you were so excited about being interviewed,” said Gig, “also, I kinda thought we were gonna do it at your exhibition?”

 

“I, uh, well,” said Grand, slowing his steps a little now that they were outside the gallery, “it seemed like they were about to place undue constraints on your time, and I thought, you know, you don't have a lot of time here for that.”

 

Gig smiled down at him. Grand's chest felt tight again, in a different way than before. Maybe he was coming down with something. 

 

“I wouldn't have scheduled in other exhibition viewings,” said Gig. 

 

“And also-- wait,” Grand stuttered to a halt as he processed what Gig had said. “Really?”

 

Gig's smile widened, and he squeezed Grand's hand gently. “Of course not. I'm here to see  _ you. _ ”

 

“Oh,” said Grand faintly, “well that's… good. I-- thanks?”

 

“You're welcome,” said Gig brightly.

 

They didn’t end up getting to the interview that day, wandering through Memorious together as Grand pointed out it’s features (and how  _ he _ would have designed them differently, if he’d been consulted). Gig was an excellent audience, asking questions whenever Grand paused for breath and seemingly delighted at his answers.

 

As they passed a small cafe, Gig made them stop for coffee, which lingered into dinner, the lights of Memorious dimming as the ship’s night cycle activated. Grand kept feeling like the other patrons were staring at them, but it was hard to tell if it was because they recognised him or Gig. They’d probably heard about his work, Grand figured.

 

Gig waved at a couple of them who he seemed to recognise, and a few of them shyly approached the table, asking for an autograph. They looked curiously at Grand.

 

“And you must know Grand Magnificent!” said Gig, “I’m here to do a profile on him, get the word out about his latest exhibit. He’s a truly amazing artist.”

 

Something curled in the pit of Grand’s stomach and he ducked his head, grateful that the dim light of the night cycle hid his suddenly flushed space. He hoped the heating on the ship would be fixed soon.

 

They walked slowly back to Grand’s apartment, Gig stopping every so often to look at the curling light displays that lit the streets, his eyes wide.

 

“Don’t you have lights of Gumption’s Gambit?” said Grand.

 

“Sure, all different kinds, but nothing like  _ this _ ,” said Gig, gesturing at the fluorescents twisted around the branches of a tree.

 

“If you’re here tomorrow night I’ll take you to see the ones in the park,” said Grand, “They’re much more artistic than these.”

 

He wrinkled his nose after the words left him. He didn’t really like the park all that much -- they never allowed him to exhibit in that space because it was “for people” (as though people wouldn’t be benefitted by seeing his art!) -- but Gig’s face lit up.

my

“These are  _ beautiful _ ,” said Gig. He turned back to Grand. “I’ll be here tomorrow night though, if you think I should see them I’ll definitely check them out. You’ll probably have to show me where it is though.”

 

“I’d be happy to,” said Grand.

 

The strange thing was that he actually was.

 

\--

 

Gig leant on Grand’s kitchen counter. “I’ll probably edit the footage from today before I turn in, put out a teaser for the interview stuff so don’t, y’know, feel like you have to stay up.”

 

“Right,” said Grand, “well, in that case. Goodnight.”

 

He held out his hand. Gig looked at for a moment before he huffed a laugh, shaking Grand’s hand.

 

“Yeah,” said Gig, “Night, Grand.”

 

Grand closed his door carefully behind him, his ears straining for any sound of Gig’s editing as he readied himself for bed. He stared up at the ceiling for a long time before he fell asleep.

 

\--

 

The first thing Grand did when he opened his eyes the next morning was to check Gig’s stream profile. There was one new upload, the comment count still rising even as Grand clicked on it.

 

_ Hi guys! _ said Gig brightly _. _ Footage of Memorious floated behind him, close-up shots of archways and lights and the steam slowly rising from their coffee cups. _ Just a quick update before I get some actual sleep - you might have noticed that my room looks a little different and that’s because -- surprise! -- I’m on Memorious! I’m staying with my very good friend Grand Magnificent, who’s been giving me a tour around his neighbourhood and showing me his fantastic artwork which you’ll see tomorrow! Anyway, love you guys! Goodnight! _

 

Grand scrolled down to look at the comments. General well-wishes, requests for Gig to come to  _ their _ ship (Grand snorted), and one very long thread titled SPECULATION, the text of it hidden. Grand clicked on it.

 

_ SPECULATION [thread hidden for length, click to view] _

_ is gig broadcasting his dates now _

_ I mean, “showing me his artwork” seems pretty…. You know ;) [edit: sorry, “showing me his FANTASTIC artwork”, definitely a date] _

_ If he’s not dating this dude he’s for sure hooking up with SOMEONE on Memorious, I don’t remember him having hickies on the stream he did on the way there _

_ I just looked up the guy and he seems pretty cute, he can show me his artwork anytime _

_ Defs agree, Gig’s staying at this dude’s house _

_ He’s stayed at people’s places before _

_ only when he got quarantined during that measles outbreak! that doesn’t count! _

_ Yeah but he never referred to those people as his Very Good Friends _

 

Grand scrolled down, and down, and  _ down _ the thread of ridiculous speculation, so  _ ridiculous _ , how could anyone even--

 

_ DUDE I’m on Memorious and I CAN CONFIRM someone I know saw them making out at Grand’s exhibition today, doubly shocking since usually if Grand’s like, within 20ft of his own artwork you can’t get a word in edgewise _

_ WHAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! _

 

Grand quickly closed the screen, cheeks burning. He was really going to have to talk to someone about the heating on this ship if it was even affecting his apartment. He definitely wasn’t thinking about Gig, and how his lips had been soft against Grand’s, and how he’d made a pleased noise, Gig’s body pressing against his, and--

 

Right.  _ Right _ . Grand sat up, pushing himself out of bed. He couldn’t stay here in the stifling room. He’d take a shower to cool himself down. Hopefully they’d fix the heating today while he was out with Gig.

  
  


\--

  
  


“Good morning!” said Gig cheerfully as Grand came into the kitchen. “I just made coffee, I hope you don’t mind. I also hope I didn’t break your coffee machine, I’ve never seen one like it.”

 

“That’s because I made it,” said Grand.

 

Gig’s eyes widened. “Really? Wow! How did you-- wait. I should probably save this for the interview. Speaking of-- did you still want to do it at your exhibition?”

 

Grand felt his cheeks heat up and he turned slightly to check on the coffee maker in case it was overheating. “Not unless you need more footage from it. I was thinking perhaps you’d like to see more of Memorious, the places that could inspire your viewers.”

 

Gig smiled at him. “That sounds great.” He put a hand on Grand’s shoulder, squeezing slightly as he moved past. “I’m going to do a quick edit of some of yesterday’s stuff before we go, so like, totally no rush, whenever you’re ready.”

 

He flopped down on Grand’s couch, looking far more at home than even Grand would have. Grand took a breath, looking away and busying himself with the coffee machine.

  
  


\--

  
  


Grand led Gig in an arch around his neighbourhood towards the park. Whenever he’d point to a particular spot - the colour of the window frames of an apartment, or the interlocking tiles of a footpath, Gig’s eye whirred as it zoomed in. Much like the previous day, Gig asked him questions, jumping from topic to topic.

 

When they stopped for lunch, Grand turned to him. “So, not to rush you, but when are we going to do the interview?”

 

Gig laughed. “We just finished it!”

 

“Oh,” said Grand.

 

He wasn’t sure why he felt so disappointed. This was what he’d asked Gig here for after all.

 

“Yeah, so now we can just, like, hang out for the rest of the day if you want,” said Gig.

 

People did not often ask if Grand wanted to  _ hang out _ . Even if they did, he was usually too busy, projects to be finished and ideas to be crafted into being… but since he’d already cleared his schedule for Gig, he didn’t have anything pressing.

 

Grand shrugged, leaning back in his chair casually. “Sure. I was thinking… the park’s not far from here. If you’re still interested in seeing the lights there.”

 

“Of course!” said Gig, smiling across at him.”That would be great! Super great, even.”

 

Grand found himself smiling back at Gig, a reaction that was more and more difficult to suppress. “Great.”

  
  


\--

 

They did a few circuits around the park before it got dark enough for the lights to come on, which gave Grand plenty of time to scope out the best seating to view them from, sitting on the grass in a small alcove area. The night cycle slowly kicked on, the ship’s lights dimming as the tree lights came on.

 

Gig looked up at the lights, face enraptured as he turned from tree to tree, the lights spiralling around the branches. He grinned at Grand, shaking an errant strand of hair out of his face. Without thinking, Grand reached out, tucking it behind his ear. Gig’s smile widened and he leaned into Grand’s touch, and Grand leaned closer--

 

“Whoa! Sorry!” 

 

Grand looked up in time to see someone hurriedly turning and walking away from them.

 

He threw his hands up in annoyance. “I don’t know what their problem was! It’s not like we were  _ doing _ anything.”

 

“Oh,” said Gig.

 

Grand looked at him sharply. “What?”

 

“I was kind of hoping you were going to kiss me again,” said Gig.

 

Grand felt a swooping sensation in his stomach, accompanied by a flush of heat. “Uh.”

 

“It’s okay!” said Gig quickly, “You totally don’t have to! It was nice though, and I thought--”

 

Grand’s chest felt tight. He caught one of Gig’s hands as Gig gestured.

 

“I mean, I’m not  _ opposed  _ to the idea,” said Grand.

 

“Oh,” said Gig, the smile back on his face, “cool!”

 

Grand smiled back, leaning closer to Gig. “Yeah. Cool.”

 

Gig pressed forward, crawling into Grand’s lap as they kissed. He made a soft sound as Grand put his hand on Gig’s waist, and again when Grand slipped his hands under the fabric of Gig’s tank top. Gig’s hands made their way into Grand’s hair, a sharp tug that made Grand shiver.

 

Gig pushed at Grand's shoulders gently until he was laying on the grass, Gig blanketing his body. Grand stuck his hand in the back pockets of Gig’s tight aquamarine pants, pulling their bodies together. Gig gasped into his mouth, breaking off the kiss to press his face into the crook of Grand’s neck.

 

The sight of the lights above him suddenly reminded Grand that he was not, in fact, anywhere even remotely private. As he opened his mouth to mention that fact to Gig, Gig’s lips met the sensitive skin of his neck. Grand quickly bit his lip to muffle a high whine.

 

“Uh, Gig? Gig, we should probably not do this here,” said Grand, voice cracking as Gig nipped at his skin.

 

Gig sat up, his hands resting lightly on Grand’s chest, hot even through the fabric of Grand’s shirt. The neon tree lights illuminated Gig’s dark skin, giving it an almost blue-purple glow. Grand resisted the urge to let go of Gig’s waist and trace his cheekbones, to pull him back down, to forget they were in public entirely.

 

“Oh. Right.” He licked his lips. “Did you want to keep doing this but go somewhere else?”

 

“Yes,” said Grand, the word coming out of him in a breathy rush.

 

Gig grinned, looking pleased. “Cool.” He paused, tilting his head. “Your place is close to here, right?”

 

Grand scrambled to get up, pulling Gig with him. “Yes, it is.”

 

Gig’s laugh was bright in the darkness. He followed close, his hand warm in Grand’s.

  
  


\--

  
  


The first thing Grand did the next morning was reach for the mesh to check his reviews, the motion stopped by Gig lying on mostly on top of him, his body heavy and warm. Grand smiled down at Gig’s sleeping form, watching the way the thin morning light highlighted the brush of his eyelashes against his cheeks. He would have sketched it out, if the movement of it wouldn’t have caused Gig to wake up.

 

Carefully, he reached out one hand, pulling up the mesh. There were more reviews of his exhibition, a  _ lot _ more. Mostly favourable, and the ones that were less complementary were… well. All publicity helped boost the viewer numbers, even if it was by people who  _ clearly _ didn’t know anything about  _ real art _ .

 

Grand flicked his gaze down at Gig again, still asleep with his face half-pressed into Grand’s bare chest. Grand bit his lip, hands hovering for a moment before he began to type, clicking through Gig’s videos until he found the particular comment thread he was looking for.

 

_ SPECULATION [thread hidden for length, click to view] _

 

Grand closed the page. Then he opened it again. Then closed it again. He huffed a breath. Quickly, he opened the page and clicked through. The number of comments had increased since he last looked at the thread, the counter ticking up even as he looked at it.

 

_ Saw them last night at the Light Garden (NOTORIOUS hook up spot) _

_!!!!!!! _

__ _ keep your eyes peeled for more hickies on the next stream lol _

__ __ _ Well, the guy IS an artist _

_ I mean, that makes sense, they must be pretty serious for Gig to go all the way out to Memorious to see him _

__ _ totally, I just think it’s weird that gig never mentioned him before this _

 

Grand flushed, quickly closing the window. Just because the Light Garden was a well known spot for dates didn’t  _ mean _ he’d taken Gig there with any end game in mind. Gig had just seemed so entranced by the concept of the lights, simple as it was, and Grand had just been a good host, taking him to the places that he might enjoy.

 

Gig mumbled something, pressing his face more against Grand, the fresh hickies prominent to Grand’s eyes.

 

Grand glared at the spot where he’d brought up the mesh. Just because they’d guessed  _ some  _ things didn’t mean they were right about  _ everything _ . He and Gig weren’t  _ dating _ , they were just friends, acquaintances really, helping each other out in a professional context. He was a very serious artist, and Gig appreciated art enough to come out to Memorious, that was all.

 

Gig made a sleepy sound, shifting against him. Grand looked down to see Gig blinking slowly up at him, a smile on his face. Grand felt very relieved that he’d closed the feed.

 

“Morning,” said Gig, “You’re awake early.”

 

Grand hummed in agreement. “Just checking mesh reviews.”

 

Gig yawned, stretching and then relaxing back against Grand. “Oh yeah? What’d they say?”

 

‘Oh, you know,” said Grand airily, “People finally realising my genius. A few idiots.” He paused. “A few people who think we’re dating, which is very funny if you ask me.”

 

Gig huffed a laugh. “Well, we did make out a couple of times. And, y’know…”

 

He pressed the length of his body fully against Grand, tangling their legs together. Gig must run very hot, Grand’s body felt instantly overheated. He’d really have to get a fan installed in his room.

 

“Yes. Well. Okay,” said Grand, “I suppose there is that.”

 

Gig laughed, pressing a kiss to Grand’s shoulder. “Uh huh.”

 

“Not that it is  _ any _ of their business,” said Grand.

 

Gig moved higher, kissing a line up Grand’s neck, his hand sliding down Grand’s chest, and making it  _ very _ difficult for Grand to keep feeling annoyed. “Uh huh.”

 

“Really,” said Grand, “whatever we want to do, that’s our--” He gasped sharply as Gig nipped at the underside of his jaw, “--our private business.”

 

Gig shifted, so that he was straddling one of Grand’s thighs, the blanket sliding off his shoulders, baring his body to the morning light. Grand’s breath caught in his throat.

 

“Right,” said Gig.

 

Grand blinked. “What’s right?”

 

Gig laughed, leaning forward to capture Grand’s lips. Grand was too distracted after that to ask any follow up questions.

 

\--

 

They did another loop around the city after they finally pulled themselves from bed, stopping every so often for Grand sketch something out as he described how his art would fit into whatever space they were in. It felt… strange to have someone’s full attention about it for so long, even his advisors and patrons made their excuses after the first hour. Gig stayed close, almost leaning his head on Grand’s shoulder as he listened, his eye whirring faintly.

 

Gig’s communicator beeped and he sat up, the warmth of his body leaving Grand’s side. It should have been a relief, but instead Grand was filled with the strange compulsion to reach out, to pull Gig back against him. He must have just gotten used to how warm it had been lately, since Gig had arrived. Next time he’d just bring a jacket.

 

“Sorry,” said Gig, “that’s Mick, the guy I got the ride here with? He said he’s heading back to Gumption’s Gambit tonight, so I should probably go grab my stuff and get back to the docks.”

 

“Oh...” said Grand.

 

He meant to add something else, his usual sort of thanks-for-coming-I-hope-you-enjoyed-the-exhibition patter, but his chest felt oddly tight, trapping the words in his throat.

 

Gig put his hand on Grand’s wrist, held out from where he’s been half-way through a sketch.

 

“Hey,” said Gig, face serious, “you okay?”

 

Grand cleared his throat. “I’m fine. Might be coming down with something, that’s all.”

 

“Oh no!” said Gig, “Guess it’s a good thing I’m leaving then, huh? That way you can get some rest.”

 

“Yeah, I guess so,” said Grand. He swallowed around the odd lump in his throat. “We should go and get your stuff, you said?”

 

“Yeah, I think Mick’s pretty keen to head back,” said Gig.

 

Gig slipped his arm around Grand’s, pulling him into motion to head back towards Grand’s apartment. It was a little awkward to walk that way, but there was something pleasant about the warmth of Gig at his side. Next time, Grand told himself, he would bring a jacket. Then he wouldn’t have to rely on the warmth of someone else to feel comfortable.

 

Grand let Gig do most of the talking on the way back, listening as he spoke about the edits still to be done on the footage of Grand’s exhibition, how excited Gig was to share it with the rest of the Fleet. The walk back felt as though it took no time at all, and Grand blinked at his apartment door for a moment before he slid it open.

 

Gig picked up his things here and there, pushing wires and neon fabric back into his bag as he got ready to go. Grand turned away, wiping over the polished coffee machine.

 

“Hey, so,” said Gig, “Can you walk me to the docks? I’m pretty sure I’ll get lost otherwise.”

 

“Of course,” said Grand, half-surprising himself with how easily it came out of his mouth.

 

He normally didn’t like doing favours for people, he was far too busy to run errands for others, but Gig was his guest. What kind of host would he be if he let Gig walk through the city without him, especially since they’d been working collaboratively while Gig was here. A good last impression was just as important as a good first impression.

 

The walk there would give Grand some time to think of his parting words. He’d meant to put them together earlier, but it had been strangely difficult to think of the appropriate send-off.

 

Gig didn’t pull him close as they walked to the docks, but he did keep his pace matched with Grand, the hand not holding the strap of his bag touching Grand in the small gestures Gig made as he spoke, his smile no less sunny than it had been during the rest of his visit.

 

The ship was already waiting at the docks for Gig when they arrived, Mick leaning back against the stepladder. He waved at Gig, grinning. Grand glared at him. It was rude of him to rush Gig off like this, when Gig had so clearly been having a great time. Gig apparently held no such grudge, waving back at Mick with a matching grin. He shifted the bag on his shoulder, slowing his pace a little and touching Grand’s arm to get him to slow. Grand frowned up at him.

 

“So, uh, before we get to the leaving part, I wanted to say that I had a really good time, like, pretty amazing, even better than I thought it was going to be,” said Gig, “And, y’know. If you do another exhibition you want my viewers to see, you should definitely let me know.”

 

“All my works should be seen by  _ everyone _ ,” said Grand, “even by people can’t understand them. I’d-- you should come back out, if you can.”

 

Gig beamed down at him. “I’d love to! But, in the meantime, I’d love to have you on a stream or something over the mesh.”

 

The mesh was absolutely beneath him, and he opened his mouth to tell Gig so.

 

“Of course,” said Grand.

 

“Great!” said Gig, “awesome! We could even--”

 

“Hey Gig!” called Mick, “you gettin’ on this ship or what?”

 

Gig laughed, looking over Grand’s head to Mick. “I’ll be there in a second!” He looked back at Grand. “Cool. So, I’ll call you? About the stream guesting?”

 

Grand nodded. “You have my contact details.”

 

“Yep!” said Gig brightly, “and you have mine, right?”

 

“I-- yes,” said Grand.

 

“Cool! Great!” said Gig. He shifted the strap on his bag for a moment. “Thanks again for, y’know, letting me crash at your place.”

 

“No problem,” said Grand, “have a safe trip back.”

 

He held out his hand for Gig to shake. Gig laughed, taking his hand and pulling him in for a tight hug.

 

“ _ Kephart _ !” said Mick, “C’mon, I got a schedule to keep here!”

 

Gig huffed, squeezing Grand once, quickly, before he let Grand go, stepping back and away. Grand waved, his other hand in his pocket so it didn’t do something foolish, like reach for Gig’s shoulder to pull him in for another hug.

 

“Bye Grand!” said Gig, waving at Grand one last time, perched at the edge of the door, “Call me!”

 

“I will!” said Grand.

 

“You’d better!” said Gig.

 

Grand watched the door slide shut, air hissing as it sealed. He watched as the rickety ship Gig was on pulled slowly out of the port and headed into dark of space, towards Gumption’s Gambit, quickly disappearing out of sight.

 

He took a deep breath in, then let it out slowly.

 

That had been… different than he’d expected. More bearable, certainly. Even pleasant, at times.

 

He took the long way back to his apartment. It seemed strangely quiet as he shut the door behind himself, the rooms larger and colder. He stared for a moment at his bed, the tangled sheets a reminder of where Gig had been lying just a few hours before. He puttered around, moving slower than he normally would, straightening the couch and putting away dishes, not really thinking much of anything at all.

 

He got as far as touching the bed sheets before dropping them back down. The bed could stay unmade for a little while longer.

  
  


\--

  
  


Grand kept careful track of Gig’s channel, waiting until a new video was uploaded (titled  _ ~*~I’M HOME~*~ _ ) before he even tried to call. It took him a few tries to actually get Gig, and he meant to be annoyed, really, he did, but it was difficult not to return Gig’s beaming grin over the staticy hologram.

 

“Hey, hi!” said Gig, “Grand! How are you?”

 

“Fine,” said Grand. He took a breath, then paused, not quite knowing what to say. “I, uh. How was the flight?”

 

“Oh, you know, a little rocky, but that’s part of the fun of it,” said Gig, his grin fading into a warm smile. “How’s it been over on Memorious? How’s the exhibition?”

 

“Good,” said Grand, “I’m talking with them about a new space after this run finishes.”

 

“Oh wow!” said Gig, “That’s so great! I’ll have to come over to see the next one!”

 

Grand nods. “Yes, I’m sure your viewers would enjoy it.”

 

“Of course! And I’ll enjoy it too,” said Gig. “I can’t wait to see it.”

 

Ridiculously, Grand felt warmth curl through his chest, even though  _ obviously _ Gig’s reaction is how any person with sense would react to his artwork.

 

“Hey,” said Gig, “since I have you, how would you feel about being on a stream in liiiiike--” he glanced as something Grand can’t see “-- twenty minutes?”

 

Grand blinked. He hadn’t actually though Gig was serious when he’s suggested Grand guesting on his streams.

 

“You totally don’t have to!” said Gig, “I just thought, you know, it’d be cool to have you on after people have seen your work.”

 

Grand took a moment. He didn’t  _ actually _ have anything planned for the day that was locked in in any way.

 

“Sure,” said Grand.

 

Gig beamed at him. Grand smiled back, a strange, fluttering feeling in the pit of his stomach.

 

“Cool!” said Gig, “So like, I’m building this thing, and I thought you could give colour advice on it?”

 

“What thing?”

 

The camera zoomed out a little so he could see more of the room. It looked like… a big metal cube, with wheels on the bottom and metal latticework protruding from the centre. Seeing it didn’t  _ really _ clarify to Grand what he’s looking at.

 

Gig gestured towards it, a proud look on his face. “It’s a combination tool box and lighting rig! Or it will be, once I finish it.”

 

“I...see,” said Grand.

 

“I mean, I already have most of the interiors worked out, and I got the lights to work yesterday, but I thought you could help me pick out the colours and the final wheels? Normally I’d put it to a stream vote, but I uh,” said Gig, fiddling with one of the wires twisted around the latticework, “I thought it’d be cooler if you picked it?”

 

Grand nodded. Of  _ course _ it would be cooler if he picked it.

 

“Okay, so I’ll give you a call back in twenty minutes?” asked Grand.

 

“It’s more like ten now,” said Gig, “probably easier to keep the connection going, right?”

 

“Right,” said Grand. He paused. “Should I change clothes?”

 

Gig laughed. “If you want? You look fine, you look  _ great  _ even.”

 

Grand nervously tugged at the bottom of his plaid shirt, pulling the fabric straight. He considered rolling up the sleeves, more casual, more man-of-the-people. He looked closer at the stream projection, trying to appear as though he was looking closer at Gig’s invention instead of scoping out what Gig was wearing, to compare. It was pretty close to what he’d worn on Memorious, really - purple jeans with a patchwork of mending over the knees and a tank top that clung tightly to Gig’s body. Grand’s hands flexed, the phantom feeling of the fabric of Gig’s top against his skin as he’d peeled it off him, the memory of the soft sound Gig had made ringing in Grand’s ears.

 

The Gig from the present day and thousands of miles away across space frowned at him. “Grand?”

 

Grand mentally shook himself. “Sorry, I was thinking of… something. A project.”

 

“Oh,” said Gig, nodding, “yeah, I get it. Great artists like you are probably always at least sort of thinking about their next artwork.”

 

The memory of the dark skin of Gig’s hips under his hands, Gig arching towards Grand as he sucked a bruise onto Gig’s thigh. It wasn’t his work, but it  _ was _ art, undoubtably. It had given Grand the same feelings as looking at his own truly great artworks, settling into his chest and making him feel as though the world around him had shifted into place.

 

Gig was looking at him on the stream expectantly. Grand cleared his throat.

 

“Yeah,” said Grand, “my next artwork. Obviously. I mean there’s a lot of work that goes into a series like that --  _ not _ that there’s  _ ever _ been a series of works like  _ my _ series of works--”

 

The projection pulsed, light flashing green for a moment. Grand took a step backwards.

 

“Oh! It’s okay,” said Gig, “that’s just my reminder to myself that the streams starting in thirty seconds. I always put it on when I’ve set the stream to kick off automatically.”

 

“Right,” said Grand.

 

He tried to affect a casual pose, hooking his thumbs into the pockets of his pants. He almost wished he  _ had _ changed, maybe not into something as  _ casual _ as Gig but the shirt was probably too much, and who knew if the stream would pick up on the wide range of colours on it, honestly it would be ruined if people weren’t able to appreciate it fully--

 

“Ten,” said Gig, “nine, eight…”

 

“Wait,” said Grand, “hold on, what am I actually meant to be doing on this stream?”

 

“You just be you,” said Gig, “people will love-- Hi guys! I’m Gig Kephart, welcome to the show, and wow do I have a special one for you guys today! My very good friend Grand Magnificent is here with me over the mesh, say hi Grand!”

 

The projection wavered for a moment as the stream switched to his camera.

 

“Uh. Hi Grand.”

 

Gig laughed, delighted, and Grand fought not to smile.

 

“I’m sure most of you guys know Grand already from his  _ amazing _ work, super check it out if you haven’t, or you can check out the videos of my trip out to see it and him over on Memorious where Grand gave me a personal tour which was seriously  _ amazing _ ,” said Gig, “Grand’s on today because he’s going to be helping me out with a little project I’ve been working on since I got back, the combination toolbox and lighting rig! It you missed any of streams where I was putting it together, you can check them out on the channel archive.” Gig took a deep breath before continuing. “So Grand, what do you think so far?”

 

Gig span the toolbox around. It was… well, Gig had obviously repurposed a few different things to put it together, the outside of it a patchwork of different metals. It wasn’t anything like his own beautiful works of art.

 

“It’s very… practical.”

 

Gig beamed at him over the feed. “Thanks! So I was thinking it should be a colour to really stand out, but obviously if you have any ideas I’d love to put them into practise for the fine folks tuning in today!”

 

They eventually settled on red (Grand’s choice) with bands of silver hi-vis tape around the base (Gig’s choice), and Gig set about painting it, narrating his process and prompting Grand with questions when Grand couldn’t find anything to say. It was a lot more enjoyable than Grand had thought it was going to be, and he found himself smiling back at Gig more than he was frowning at the live chat as it sped past.

 

“Right!” said Gig, “That’s all we can do now until this layer dries, tune back in tomorrow when we’ll be putting together the finishing touches, and if you’re free later on tonight I’ll be back up in the rigging, taking a close look at the talented people here on Gumption’s Gambit who help keep our lights on! As always, you can find all my details in the links below, and Grand, where can people find you?”

 

Grand blinked. “On Memorious?”

 

Gig laughed. “Right, and also if people want to check out your work, they should go the folios and exhibitions section of the Memorious mesh. Bye until later guys!”

 

Grand’s screen pulsed again. Gig let out a long breath, kicking his legs out where he was sitting on the floor and leaning back on his hands. His smile at Grand looked a little worn at the edges, and Grand had to stop himself from trying to reach through the mesh to Gig.

 

“So,” said Gig, “what did you think of your first time?”

 

“I mean this wasn’t my  _ first _ time,” said Grand.

 

Gig raised his eyebrows. “Who was your first time with?”

 

“I was on your videos when you were on Memorious.”

 

“ _ Oh _ ,” said Gig, “well that was all pre-recorded. Streaming live always feels different.”

 

“I guess,” said Grand, “you’re doing another one later tonight?”

 

“Yeah,” said Gig, “there’s this big section of rigged lighting over the public parks, so I’m going up there to talk to the electricians about it, very cool.”

 

Gig yawned, stretching his arms above his head and revealing a sliver a skin, stark is contrast to the white of his tank top. Grand looked away, down to where the chat was still flashing by, flicking by so quickly that he only caught every fourth word (paint--he’s--tonight?--visit).

 

“So for tomorrow, does the same time work for you?”

 

Grand jerked his head back up to look at Gig. “Tomorrow?”

 

“Yeah, for the-- did you not want to do another stream?” said Gig.

 

“I mean I am very busy, putting things together for my next exhibition--” Gig’s face fell. “--but sure, I can be here tomorrow.”

 

Gig brightened. “Cool! Maybe we can even make it a regular thing?”

 

Grand had absolutely zero desire to be involved in stream stardom, and if Gig’s previous output was anything to go by, this would probably mean he’d be seeing Gig at least once a day. The idea was not wholly unpleasant.

 

“Sure,” said Grand.

 

“Great!” said Gig, “Okay, so, I’m gonna go crash for a bit before my next stream, but I’ll see you tomorrow!”

 

“Okay,” said Grand, “Uh. Bye.”

 

“Love you, bye!” said Gig, and disconnected the call.

 

Grand stared at the slowly dissipating projection.

 

_ Love you _ ? he mouthed to himself.

 

Grand shrugged. Gig had that as his sign off to his comment form after all. Not everything could be like his art, with its deeper, complex meanings. He shouldn’t read into things.

  
  


\--

  
  


Grand was on Gig’s stream the next day, watching as Gig added another layer of glossy paint to the toolbox and carefully hooked in the wiring. Once the stream was over, Gig said he had an idea for their next collaboration, and Grand agreed. He’d always been told that a continued stream presence could help him, and it has certainly been effective with his exhibition.

 

It had very little to do with how Gig’s face lit up as their stream connection went through, as though Grand was giving him a wonderful surprise just by showing up.

 

They chatted afterwards, sometimes going late enough that it made sense to eat dinner with each other, Gig’s face lit by the glow of the mesh. Grand had never spent so much time with another person, although Grand reasoned that was just because he’d never been able to stand another person long enough to have such a long-standing collaboration. Gig was a good partner to work with, easy-going and aimable, happy to listen to Grand talk about his work, even if sometimes his smile did sometimes make Grand’s chest feel strangely tight.

 

He didn’t realise how often he’d been doing guest spots on Gig’s stream until another student nervously approached him in Swansea’s office, fiddling with the strap of her bag.

 

“Hi, um, Grand Magnificent?”

 

Grand nodded, attention still mostly on Swansea’s closed office door.

 

“I just wanted to say that I’m  _ such _ a big fan of your work…”

 

Grand nodded again, giving her a little more of his attention now that she’d proven herself to have good sense.

 

“...especially the stream last week where you and Gig repurposed that keyboard into a lighting array, my girlfriend and I are totally going to do that.”

 

Swansea’s door cracked open. “Grand?”

 

The student gave him a quick wave, leaving before he could ask any follow up questions like  _ wait, what _ or  _ that’s not my work _ .

 

Grand let out an annoyed breath, pulling up his files as he went into Swansea’s office.

 

“I have three ideal spots, and I  _ refuse _ to negotiate on them,” said Grand, “If the space isn’t available for my work then you should make it available, because whoever’s displaying in there can’t possibly be as good as me, and therefore cannot possibly be giving as valuable a contribution to Memorious and the rest of the Fleet as me. ”

 

“Hello Grand,” said Swansea, ”wonderful to see you as always.”

 

“Yes, I’m sure it is,” said Grand, “as I was saying--”

 

Swansea sighed. “Why don’t you show me the venues you’d like first, rather than starting from an attack position?”

 

Grand brought up the map of Memorious, pulling the venues he’d chosen out of the projection. He looked expectantly at Swansea.

 

They tapped the bottom one. “This one isn’t available in your requested time frame, but the other two are.”

 

“Good,” said Grand.

 

“One behalf of the Community Project Spaces for the Arts I would be happy to offer you either of the venues for your next exhibition.”

 

“Oh,” said Grand. Usually it was more of a fight to get a space. ”Uh. Good.”

 

Swansea paused. “I’ve followed your work for a long time, and it’s been good to see you using it to connect  _ with _ people rather than as a barrier between you over the past few months.” They tapped their fingers on the etched glass of their desk. “The council has been very impressed by your rising profile within the rest of the Fleet. They see it having a ripple effect for other artists here, you know, people logging in the view your exhibition and staying to look at other people’s. It’s been good for us.”

 

Grand blinked. “That’s… good?”

 

The corners of Swansea’s eyes crinkled as they smiled. “Yes, it is. Let me know which of your two venues you’d prefer and we’ll book out that space for you.”

 

“I’ll, uh, I’ll send you the proposal when I get home,” said Grand, turning to leave.

 

“Grand? Please pass on my regards to Mr Kephart, if you would?” Swansea cleared their throat. “My kids are big fans of his.”

 

“Uh. Sure,” said Grand.

 

He pulled the proposal together on his walk back to his apartment, picking out the sketches that he wanted to bring into physical being. Some were ready to go, while others were little more than a quick sketch, a vague idea of a shape in the form of light. It would take a lot of work, but it was nothing he couldn’t handle, of course. He looked through them, reordering them, making note of the scope of them, where they’d need to be in the space.

 

It wasn’t until he saw them grouped together that a theme began to emerge. His previous exhibition had been all sharp lines and hard edges, metaphors made manifest to show people the fleeting nature of words. This exhibition would be different - the pieces that were there were soft, curving shapes of dark glass, lit by curving neon lights.

 

Grand stared at the proposal for a long time, his mind conjuring memories of Gig under the purple neons of the Light Garden. He bit his lip, flicking through the proposal, hand hovering over the send button for a long moment. 

 

All great works contained hidden meanings. The fact that no one other than himself would ever know this one just meant that it was destined for greatness.

 

He hit send, letting out a long breath. 

 

Then, he called Gig. It was almost time for their stream, and Gig always liked to talk to him for a little while before they went live. Grand could have just called him at the actual time the stream was set to go live, but he’d found that he didn’t mind indulging Gig.

 

That happened a lot with Gig, actually.

 

There probably wasn’t a deeper meaning to that. Probably.

  
  


\--

  
  


Reviews were meaningless, of course, because Grand knew the intrinsic value of his own work and so of course he didn’t care what people thought. He  _ did  _ still check the reviews page for his exhibition every day, just a small peek after he woke up.

 

He also checked on one other thread, still active despite the length of time since the video had gone up.

 

_ SPECULATION [thread hidden for length, click to view] _

__ _ Gig really likes building stuff together with this guy _

_ I don’t know if I like him that much, but gig seems so happy since that grand guy started guesting on his streams _

_ it’s cute!! And it’s so nice seeing them stay together over long-distance _

 

Grand’s chest felt tight, thinking of Gig’s bright grin whenever the call connected. He scrubbed a hand over his face. It was so annoying that these people were so certain he and Gig were  _ together _ , which they most certainly  _ were not _ . Just because they’d spoken almost every day since Gig got back to Gumption’s Gambit, and just because Gig always made a point to say how wonderful Grand was (true) and how talented he was (also true), and just because Grand actually wanted send him a message every time he saw something that made him think of Gig, that didn’t  _ mean _ anything.

 

He clicked out of the screen, huffing an annoyed breath for a moment before he began to sketch, more as a way to centre himself than anything. They turned from lazy shapes of light in the air to something more, in fact, if he tweaked it a little, adding this here and that there…it was a small drone camera, its small wings moving like a dragonfly’s wings in fast twitchy movements in a way that reminded Grand of Gig’s gestures as he spoke.

 

Grand pressed his lips together. He probably has enough bits and pieces lying around that he could easily make it. He spun the sketch between his palms, considering it but also trying very hard not to consider it. It was too easy to imagine Gig’s delighted smile at the gift, but Grand always had a very clear and precise imagination.

 

Making it took an infinitely shorter time than sending it did, and was considerably less of a hassle. He knew the moment it reached Gig, because Gig called him immediately.

 

“It’s nothing,” said Grand, “in between creating important things I like to give myself little creative breaks, and I thought you might like it.”

 

“Like it?” said Gig, ”I love it! Grand!” He looked down at the camera drone in his hands, running a finger along one of the paper-thin wings before he looked back up at Grand. “Seriously, thank you.”

 

Grand’s chest felt oddly tight. “You’re welcome.”

  
  


\--

  
  


Gig mentioned it on his stream of course, holding up the drone to the camera before he let it go, laughing as it zipped around his head.

 

“We’ve got a new edition to the crew today!” said Gig, “Grand Magnificent took time out of his very busy schedule to design something for me. I’m very lucky to have someone like that in my life.”

 

There was a strange edge to Gig’s smile that Grand couldn’t quite identify. Gig shook himself, customary grin back on his face.

 

“Anyway, let’s take this little guy out for a test drive as we head down to check out the waste disposal unit!”

 

Most of the comments on the video are what Grand had come to expect -- people chatting about the video’s actual content, people posting quotes from the video, a few people making speculations about Gig (and about him and Gig). Towards the bottom of the first page of comments, someone mentioned Grand’s upcoming exhibition and whether Gig would be there. That in itself wasn’t what bothers Grand, he didn’t mind if Gig was there or not, obviously, it was a long way for Gig to go just to see him. What bothered him is that several people in that particular comment thread referred to Gig as his  _ muse _ .

 

“Ridiculous,” Grand said out loud to himself, “everyone knows that I’m my  _ own _ muse.”

 

The only way to fix this, of course, was to convince Gig to come visit him again, so that people would  _ see _ how different Gig was from the art. Grand went through the argument in his head, outlining each point to himself as the call to Gig went through.

 

In the end, he barely needed to use any kind of argument at all.

 

“I’d love to come!” said Gig, his grin wide and delighted over the staticy projection. “I had  _ such _ a good time last time, and it’ll be great to see you in person again.”

 

“I-- great,” said Grand, stumbling a little over his words as he mentally discarded his arguments. “I mean, you too.”

 

Gig  _ beams _ at Grand over the feed, and Grand feels the familiar flush of heat. It’s not so unbearable now as it used to be. If pressed, Grand might even admit that he liked it.

  
  


\--

  
  


Grand drafted the descriptions of his works until the last possible moment, as he always did. It was hard to distill genius down to a few words. The opening description that people saw as they walked in was always the most difficult to write, and Grand wrote and deleted it sixteen times before he was even close to satisfied with it.

 

He still had a few words left in the description limit when he was finished. Grand pressed his lips together for a moment. Trying to think as little as possible he typed the final line, hitting send before he could think better of it and delete it.

 

_ I would like to acknowledge Gig Kephart's contributions to publicizing my work. _

 

They’d been collaborating for almost six months after all. It would be a nice gift for when Gig came to visit.

  
  


\--

  
  


He walked around the city the day before opening day, feeling unsettled and twitchy. Gig was set to arrive that afternoon, and Grand headed towards the docks much earlier than he strictly needed to be, walking the length of it to try to shake off the fluttering feeling in his stomach.

 

“Grand!”

 

Grand turned in time to see Gig rushing towards him, practically leaping at him before Gig enveloped him in a tight hug. Grand put his hands tentatively on Gig’s hips, feeling the warmth of him, solid, under his hands.

 

“It’s so good to see you!” said Gig.

 

“You’ve seen me almost every day,” said Grand.

 

Gig laughed. “You know what I mean!”

 

His joy, as always, was infectious. Grand smiled up at him. 

 

“Yeah, I guess I do.”

 

Gig leaned back a little, his hand lingering on Grand’s shoulders. “So what’s the plan?”

 

“I thought your viewers might like a preview of the exhibition,” said Grand.

 

“Oh for sure,” said Gig, “and so would I.”

 

Gig winked, and Grand felt a flush of heat in his cheeks. He turned quickly, pulling Gig behind him.

 

“Well, hurry up,” said Grand.

 

Gig laughed.

  
  


\--

  
  


“I can’t believe I made it into the art world,” said Gig, gesturing at the description.

 

“Well  _ obviously  _ I'd be famous on my own without anybody's help because my art is incredible… but you helped. A bit.”

 

Gig ducked his head, trying to hide a grin. “Grand… thank you.”

 

He reached out and took Grand’s hand, tangling their fingers together. He looked down at Grand, and Grand suddenly felt aware of how close their bodies were to one another in the quiet space.

 

“It’s just one sentence,” said Grand, “Don’t get a big head about it.”

 

Gig grinned again. He moved closer, leaning in just a little into Grand’s space. It felt natural, like a reflex, for Grand to lean up and meet Gig’s lips.

 

Heat trickled down into him, his muscles of their own accord to wrap his arms around Gig, pulling him close. Gig huffed a laugh into his mouth, fitting the length of his body against Grand’s and running his hands down his back, pulling their bodies against one another. Grand sighed, letting Gig deepen the kiss, letting the heat of it sweep him away until the world was nothing more than Gig.

 

“Oh my god.”

 

Grand’s eyes snapped open. He looked behind him to see Swansea, their cheeks flushed faintly pink.

 

“Sorry, I was just here to do a final check and-- you know, I can come back later.”

 

“Wait, we were just--” Grand tried.

 

Swansea had already turned, heading back out the way they’d come. “I’ll do the final check later.”

 

Gig broke out in giggles as the door clicked shut, burying his face in the crook of Grand’s neck.

 

Grand scrubbed a hand over his face. “How does this keep  _ happening _ ?” 

 

Gig huffed a laugh. “Probably because we keep doing this in public spaces.”

 

“This isn’t a public space,” grumbled Grand, “it’s not open yet.”

 

Gig smiled against his skin, pressing a soft kiss to the underside of his jaw before leaning back. “Come on. I’ll just some quick live preview footage and then we can head to an  _ actual _ private space.”

 

The look in Gig’s eye almost made Grand  _ dizzy _ .

 

The quick preview really is quick, Gig sending the small drone camera Grand made him buzzing around while his eye focused on the two of them. Grand spoke mostly on autopilot, distracted by the shape of Gig’s lips, the curve of his wrist as he gestured, the warmth radiating off him as he leaned closer to Grand.

 

Gig took one last look at the opening description before they left, a soft smile on his face that makes warmth curl in Grand’s chest. He brushed Gig’s hair out of his eye, his fingertips skimming across Gig’s cheekbone. Gig inhaled sharply.

 

“So,” said Gig. “A private space?”

 

“My apartment is a block away,” said Grand.

 

Gig grinned. “Lead the way.”

  
  


\--

  
  


The first thing Grand saw when he woke up is Gig’s face, pressed into the crook of Grand’s neck, his deep breaths hot on Grand’s collarbone. Grand blamed the fact that he’s half-awake for why he smiles down at Gig and pressed a kiss to the top of his head. Gig made a soft sound, the hand that’s resting on Grand’s chest curling slightly before Gig settles back into sleep.

 

Despite this being the opening day, Grand feels oddly relaxed, his body warm under the covers where he and Gig are pressed together. He rubbed his free hand over his eyes, and then reached over to pull up the mesh.

 

People were already leaving comments on the mesh guestbook of his exhibition, excited to get in later that night either physically or virtually. Most of the comments were scattered, with only a few short threads here and there, but there was a single, much longer, much more active thread. Grand frowned, then clicks on it.

 

The initial comment was a blurry photo. It took Grand a moment to work out what he was even looking at - it was a blurry screenshot of the opening description that must have been from Gig’s preview livestream. His thank you to Gig had been circled in red.

 

_ Not what I would have expected from GM!! Being with Gig has mellowed him into being a half-decent person _

__ __ _ yeah, it’s practically a proposal _

__ __ __ _ I know right _

 

Grand made an odd choking sound. It must be louder than he thought because Gig stirs, sleepily raising his head and blinking up at Grand.

 

“Everything okay?”

 

"It’s nothing, it’s-- okay, so I’m sure you must have seen people making weird jokes, and I read this weird thing, so funny, you're really going to love this weird joke."

 

Gig looked at him expectantly, the hand on Grand’s chest rubbing a small circle. “I love weird jokes.”

 

“So I was reading the comments on the exhibition, and there’s the one thread where people were talking about the bit in the opening description where I mention you.”

 

Gig’s lips twitched. “Uh huh.”

 

“And someone said that it was a proposal!” said Grand, his voice cracking slightly, “Isn’t that weird. And funny!”

 

Gig smiled, patting Grand’s chest as he relaxed back  against Grand. “Don’t worry, I know you'd do your proposal much differently. Plus we’ve only been dating for like six months. But it is a wonderful anniversary gift.”

 

Whatever Grand had expected, it wasn’t that.

 

“Six months?” he said faintly.

 

“I know,” said Gig, “it really flies by, right?”

 

“I uh.” Grand swallowed. “I thought it was a much shorter time.”

 

Gig hummed sleepily, curling around Grand. Grand opened his mouth, then shut it again. _Six months_.

 

He thought about Gig’s bright smile, on the mesh and in person, his head tilted to the side as he listened to Grand for hours, asking him question after question. Gig’s hand warm in his, their fingers fitting together. The warm feeling in his chest when Gig had landed on Memorious for the second time. How Gig felt, pressed against his side, curled around him as though he wanted to be as close as possible to Grand even in his sleep. His throat felt tight.

 

_ Oh _ .

 

Grand’s arm slid tighter around Gig’s side, and Gig looked up at him.

 

“Grand?”

 

Grand tilted his head, capturing Gig in a slow, deep kiss. Gig made a pleased noise, straining upwards as the heat built inside of them. They were both breathing heavily by the time they broke apart.

 

“Good morning to you too,” breathed Gig, “what’s that for?”

 

“Just happy you’re here, I guess,” said Grand.

  
  
  
  


 

 

 

A Coda:

 

_ SPECULATION [thread hidden for length, click to view] _

__ __ _ I KNEW IT!!!!!!! _

__ _ [this thread had been locked by the moderator] _

**Author's Note:**

> come say hi: mariusperkins on most places


End file.
